Remove and repair Deadlocked Rear Door

[[Cas]]

I thought I would share my experience of removing and repairing the locking mechanism of the rear driver-side door on my 2003 Fabia VRS. I hope that it might be helpful for anyone else stuck with this tricky problem. I spent many hours investigating possible solutions to access the door lock mechanism and open the door while saving the lock or more importantly the door itself from any irreparable damage.

Summary

The rear door was deadlocked was due to the motor no longer turning in response to the central locking circuit. There were warning signs that it would do this as it would occasionally fail to open but I ignored it, not realising the major headache it would later cause.

Remove Door and secure Window

The first stages involves removing the door card along with removing and securing the window glass using the linked guides or Haynes manual. I found removing all the rear seating made it easier and covered the nasty exposed seat hooks with a blanket.

Separate Lock from Inner Panel and remove

The locking mechanism is attached by a plastic arm to the inner panel by a cluster of three plastic rivets. This plastic arm is not too important and is simply to aid fitting/removal of the locking mechanism. In my case I found that previous garage work had already broken this plastic arm behind the panel so I am not sure the best way to deal with this.

Cut Hole in Lock Casing

Once the inner panel is removed you can finally get access the locking mechanism. I calculated that I could make a hole in the plastic casing and get access to the gears that the central locking uses. Once exposed I could manually turn the gear to disable the deadlocking and unlock the door. It sounded simple but its tricky to work in such a cramped space and I would be guestimating as to the actual location of the gears simply based on pictures of the lock internals on the internet.

The area to be cut was masked with tape and using a Dremel with cutting wheel, the plastic housing was carefully ground away to expose the large white gear. As the area to be cut (green arrow in pic below) faces the door panel I stuck a small mirror onto the door to help.

The pictures show I got close to the exact area needing to to be removed. It should be noted that the hole is very near to a circuit board on one side and the mechanical pivot on the other so care is needed when cutting not to hit these along with not cutting too deep and damaging the gears. I seem to have lost the measurements to determine the exact location and dimension needed to cut the hole.

Unlock the Door!

I cant remember the direction to turn the gear but using two small screwdrivers I ratcheted it around. It took a few attempts but persistence eventually won out and the door clicked open for the first time in months! In hindsight an alternative method would be to move the gear a bit, this rotating the motor, then try with the central locking again, because if the motor is still partially functional it may open.

Once the door was open it was a simple case of removing the door bolts holding the locking mechanism and extract it. I originally thought of getting a spare locking mechanism from a car breaker but upon finding no suitable donor I ended up repairing the mechanism.

Repair the Lock Motor

I removed the plastic casing that houses the electronic parts of the lock from the metal mechanical part. Dismantled the casing and carefully separated the motor from the circuit board. Testing the motor with a 9v battery showed that it was simply not responding at certain point on the spindle. I surmised that simply cleaning the carbon brushes and commutator might bring it back to life.

Getting into the motor is a bit fiddly but by grinding off the small crimped metal tags that grip the plastic portion and carefully pulling/prising. There might be minor points I am missing in the disassembly but I forgot to take pictures of this particular stage. I used IPA to clean the dirt from the brushes and commutator then put it back together and tested once again with the battery.

The motor seems quite generic so should be relatively simple to source a replacement if needed.

The hole in the casing was repaired with piece of scrap plastic and epoxy.

The final step was to assemble the lock and test it with the central locking circuit in the car before fixing it to the door again.

I did this last summer and the door has been working flawlessly since.

Edited 23 August, 2012 by [Cas]

[sram]

Hi Briskodian

Brilliant job! I have got the same problem and like you would like to fix it myself. Your description is quite detailed, but I do not have the Haynes or any other manual to work from. I have removed the door card and removed all the screws from the door carrier, but can't get it off, to get to the lock mechanism.

Can you give me few tips how to get off the door carrier? I have Skoda Fabia 1.9 TDI estate, the window mechanism is rivited to the door carrier. Thank you. Best regards. Jan

[[Cas]]

I do not have the Haynes or any other manual to work from. I have removed the door card and removed all the screws from the door carrier, but can't get it off, to get to the lock mechanism.

Can you give me few tips how to get off the door carrier? I have Skoda Fabia 1.9 TDI estate, the window mechanism is rivited to the door carrier. Thank you. Best regards. Jan

Have you disconnected the window glass from the window regulator/mechanism? The door carrier comes out with the window regulator/mechanism still attached.

I will summarise the steps below but see this post, which has images and link to pdf manuals.

These instructions are for the rear door only:

• Remove large rubber grommet on door carrier.
  
• Lower window until plastic retaining pin is visible.
  
• Screw an M5 screw (approximately 70 mm long) into the plastic retaining pin and remove from straddling dowel.
  
• Now screw an M8 screw (approximately 80 mm long) into the straddling dowel.
  
• Withdraw the straddling dowel from the window lifter guide and hence from the door window pane.
  
• Push the door window up and secure with adhesive tape (duck tape works well).
  

I also have some updates to make to this post as I recently fixed the front door lock motor too, so took a few more pictures and measured the area that would need to be cut.

[sram]

Thank you very much for your concise response and all the good tips and links to other sources of information. Now I have full confidence to go ahead with my own repair.

[Gman1978]

Wish I've have seen this post about 6 months ago on my 2003 estate fabia. My rear door jammed and we took a chisel to the lock from the inside. Which did slip and left a dink in the door on the outside. NO!

I then bough a replacement lock/motor mechanism off ebay that when it turned up was ever so slightly different. - to this day I don't know why.

I had to take the plastic arm off the old smashed up one and put that on the new one as they were different. Then the horror as I undid the screw for the arm and the plastic on the other side fell into the lock, then I knew this was going to be hard. I ended up taking them completely apart had to understand how they work. not easy.

The worst part was screwing it back together, there is a spring on the arm that is so heavily sprung it makes you wonder how the plastic can take that punishment. Anyway, apart from the small dink and crack in the paint work, all's has been well.

it was a total bleep. especially those flipping riveted window winders.

[@Lee]

Wish I've have seen this post about 6 months ago on my 2003 estate fabia. My rear door jammed and we took a chisel to the lock from the inside. Which did slip and left a dink in the door on the outside. NO!

I then bough a replacement lock/motor mechanism off ebay that when it turned up was ever so slightly different. - to this day I don't know why.

I had to take the plastic arm off the old smashed up one and put that on the new one as they were different. Then the horror as I undid the screw for the arm and the plastic on the other side fell into the lock, then I knew this was going to be hard. I ended up taking them completely apart had to understand how they work. not easy.

The worst part was screwing it back together, there is a spring on the arm that is so heavily sprung it makes you wonder how the plastic can take that punishment. Anyway, apart from the small dink and crack in the paint work, all's has been well.

it was a total bleep. especially those flipping riveted window winders.

there are AFAIK two types of connector that the door control rod connects to. One is white plastic and the other is red. Mine is a 53 plate with a white connector. Not sure what year they changed the design unfortunately. I'll try and post the images of the two types here at some point.

[princelotus]

Hi briskodian,

I have the same problem! The passenger door is locked and not responding with centre locking as well.

From your detailed post i can repair it... But only if it unlock for once...it is totally locked and i cant open trimming.

Pls guide how to handle with the situation

I am using Fabia 1.4 16v 2008model.

Thanks in advance...

[[Cas]]

Hi briskodian,

I have the same problem! The passenger door is locked and not responding with centre locking as well.

From your detailed post i can repair it... But only if it unlock for once...it is totally locked and i cant open trimming.

Pls guide how to handle with the situation

I am using Fabia 1.4 16v 2008model.

Thanks in advance...

 

The front door is a harder problem however the cost/time of replacing the door vs replacing a damaged door card/carrier means it is worth persevering with.

 

You should be able to forcibly remove the inner door trim as you can access all the screws for the inner trim even with the door closed. Pulling this trim off however might require removing the passenger seat and snapping some of the trim's plastic clips. If you do get the inner trim off I think you may also encounter issues with access to the carrier and window bolts as the dashboard might obscure some of them.

[princelotus]

The front door is a harder problem however the cost/time of replacing the door vs replacing a damaged door card/carrier means it is worth persevering with.

 

You should be able to forcibly remove the inner door trim as you can access all the screws for the inner trim even with the door closed. Pulling this trim off however might require removing the passenger seat and snapping some of the trim's plastic clips. If you do get the inner trim off I think you may also encounter issues with access to the carrier and window bolts as the dashboard might obscure some of them.

 

[princelotus]

Hi! Briskodian

Thank you for your reply, however it is really hard to handle a locked door to access the locking mechanism.

Skoda Authorised centre has quoted a heavy amount and asked to break the locking system and replaced with a new one.

But luckily I caught in right hand and found a mechanic who only repair centre locking in New Delhi- India. He punched 5-6 times at door opening handle and the door got unlocked...And finally he replaced the faulty motor with a new one easily...!!! and in 10% of the cost of Skoda offered.

I can open and close it easily now... :)

[R1chy]

I know this is an old post but I had to carry out this job at the weekend so thought I would add my comments.

 

For me, the door was locked and could not be opened from inside or outside so required removal of the interior door trim, anciliaries carrier etc to gain access, which was pretty fiddly but actually straight forward enough.

 

I cut into the lock with a Dremel as detailed above and attempted to move the gear wheels but this had no effect with them just turning so I had little choice but to trash the lock mechanism in the hopes it would release.

 

I did this with a long, narrow cold chisel, hammering at the base of the lock where the main mechanism is and just hoped for the best. This was a bit daunting to do but after maybe 10 mins of hammering I had broken enough of the lock for it to disenguage.

 

To protect the door skin I taped a piece of 6mm plywood whilst hammering so no external damage was done.

 

After that and the door was open it was a very straight forward job to unbolt the old lock, replace with a new one (£40 off eBay brand new) and put everything back together again.

 

On my car, an 04 Fabia hatch, the screw to release the door handle was really awkward to get to (I only had sockets which would not do deep enough into the door recess) so equip yourself with a slim T20 Torx screw driver before you start.

 

For info, the Skoda dealer wanted about £260 to do this job and it only cost me £40, although it did take a lot longer to do than I had anticipated.

 

[@Lee]

+1 for smashing the fekker and replacing

[wafflesquirt]

I also have this problem. I have taken of the door card and disconnected the window glass, removed the 8 bolts but I still can't get the metal plate off the door, it is the rear drivers side door and it is locked shut. The problematic bit is the top right hand corner of the door where the lock is situated, I just can't fathom out how to get it off without forcing something. 

I don't want to buy a new lock till I know what the old one looks like, but want to get the new one so I can see what I can break on the old one to remove it. 

Presumably without the lock in place the door will not shut so I will not be able to use the car to get to the 'shops' to get the new lock :^(

 

Fabia 1.2 estate on a 53 plate

 

I know the skoda dealer said it would be almost £200 to replace the lock and that was while it was still openable [occasionally] not when the door was locked shut :^(

[Gman1978]

Hi,

 

I feel your pain.

 

knock out the 3 black plastic centre pins at the top right (triangle formation) and push them though , this is the attachment of a big bit of plastic that connects to the lock (it slides out from the lock).-this plastic part is almost always broken anyway so does not matter.

Now push though the outers of the the three plastic connections.

 

now your issues should be that the window lifter strip behind the metal panel (aka the carrier)

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mp_NT6zJu9uKxgSzop8sfoA.jpg

 

It should come out bottom first but also needs to slide out (to the left in your case)

but your door is shut so it will foul.

 

You MAY have to drill out the rivets that hold the strip on.

 

It's going to be a nightmare but we were able to do it without breaking anything so it's possible.

 

taking the lock out was the hardest part. be careful not so slip and ruin your door if you are chiseling out.

Edited 22 June, 2014 by Gman1978

[wafflesquirt]

If I remove the lock will the door still close and just not lock or will it not latch?

[Gman1978]

If you remove the lock the door will shut but not lock shut. It will fly open on the first bend.

I gaffer taped mine shut if I had to drive about.

[wafflesquirt]

If you remove the lock the door will shut but not lock shut. It will fly open on the first bend.

I gaffer taped mine shut if I had to drive about.

Many thanks for your help. the lock has started working again [intermittently] but the passenger side one has now gone the same way :^(

[Sowen]

I'm experiencing this problem too and have started a separate thread but this one seems to have a good selection of problems and solutions

 

The key fob opens the near side locks and boot but does not open the offside locks, both don;t even make an attempt. Drivers door can be opened by turning the key, which also opens both the near side locks and boot. The rear offside cannot be opened at all - deadlocked.

 

I have read lots of threads about what seems to be a common fault - Rear door becoming deadlocked.  So I've got into the offside rear door but before I wreck the lock, I wonder if the front central locking issue and the rear locking issue are related. Is there a separate fuse for the offside central locking. Anyone know where I can get a wiring diagram?

 

Alternatively, if i am to take a chisel to it, where do I aim the chisel?

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

[mau408]

I did use the advice provided in this post and I am certainly most grateful to whoever posted it. However as I couldnt wind the cog and get it to work I had to find an alternative. I purchased 2 New locking mechanisms and after playing with the new ones I could understand how I could uncatch the door mechanically by using a bent 4inch nail and bypassing the motor. The picture shows the lock I removed having tried the above method first. I used a cordless drill I drilled a small hole in the plastic casing near the outside of the door at the bottom corner. See photo of circle in red In following post (rear drivers side). Inserting the nail bent about an inch in length I angled it at about 3oclock and moved it up towards 1 oclock. With a little patience the door uncatched and opened. The rest of this post was then used to remove the lock and put the door back together.

Thankyou again for the original posting. And I hope this will be of benefit to other readers.

The other side quickly went intermittent shortly afterwards but I knew to change this promptly because it was so much easier being able to open the door to take lock out without first having to get a jammed door open.

Edited 28 June, 2015 by mau408

[mau408]

see below.

Edited 28 June, 2015 by mau408

[mau408]

Photo as previous post.

Edited 28 June, 2015 by mau408

[mau408]

Now my passenger side is playing up!

[Oli3000]

This guide was very helpful.

 

I took my 03 Fabia with a deadlocked rear offside door for an MOT today and they completely refused to test it. Cue mass panic.

 

 

This evening I followed this guide with the help of the Haynes manual and the workshop manual. I thought I would add some of my thoughts to the above instructions that may help others:

 

 

1) Removing the door card is actually pretty easy in the rear if you remove the rear seats first.

2) Once the window straddling dowel is out (this reads as a much more daunting task than it actually is) and the window has been taped up, there are 3 steps before the ancillary carrier will come out; removing the 8 bolts/rivets attaching it to the door, popping out the 3 black plastic rivets in the top right holding the lock mechanism locating arm, AND REMOVING THE WIRING LOOM! If the wiring loom is not popped off the inside of the carrier you cannot remove it from the door and it took me a long time to realise why the carrier would not come away. There are a series of plastic plugs running around the bottom edge of the carrier and by using a pair of pliers these can very easily be pushed through without causing any damage.

3) I don't have a dremmel and 'smashing it to pieces' sounded simpler to me. Use a pair of pliers to rip the connector off then stick your chisel in there and smash away. I filled the door with some thick material incase anything slipped. When you can see the cog pictured in the first post then you should spin this so that axle/shaft comes towards you (downwards) for quite some time until the door will open. I was under the impression it needed to be spun once or twice, but it takes a while to get the locking pin completely descended. I found it much easier to spin by actually pulling the motor out of the lock by grabbing the smaller, white cog with some pliers and pulling it down. The larger locking cog would then spin freely!

 

 

Tomorrow, comes the refit! Currently I'm eyeing the ebay generic locks, but will ring TPS for a quote for an original in the morning.

 

In general, it is knuckle destroying process and requires some patience. But the actual mechanics are very simple thus far. 

Edited 10 May, 2016 by Oli3000

[Gman1978]

Nice.

I'd strongly recommend not going for a copy part, I got one once, had a look inside it and the switches were super poor quality.

I just did my front doors and was able to us the locks from the fabia II, so the locks were newer.

Sometimes similar part numbered locks are the same apart from sometimes one piece if plastic you can transplant from old lock from the outside.

[Yaris]

I can open the door by rolling down the window and pulling the inner & outer door handles with the engine running...does this mean the door card doesn't mean to come off?